Time to Play! Popup Breathing

Kids learn by playing. The more you can make learning to swim fun for your kids, the more they’ll like it, the quicker they’ll learn, and the more fun you’ll have teaching them. Once your kids are able to take a breath whenever they need one, they’re well on their way to water safety. This game will help them get a feel for how to surface whenever they need to breathe.

One of the things that you need to teach your kids when they’re learning to swim is that pushing down with their arms moves them up in the water. To help them practice this without realizing they’re practicing, make it a game. How high up can they get by pushing down into the water with their arms?

Can they pop up so that their shoulders are above the surface? Their chests? Their waists? Can they pop up higher than the edge of the pool? Can they pop up higher than you can? (It’s up to you to decide whether to let them win.)